Women now have a visual catalogue of female role models to aspire to, following the launch of Tech Talent Charter’s new campaign, Doing It Anyway.
Doing It Anyway’ is a series of outdoor, social and digital adverts, featuring the striking images of a selection of women and the stories of how they achieved their tech roles.
The campaign aims to highlight the need for more women in technology and encourage working-age women to consider a tech career by following a link that directs them to a directory of more than 300 vacancies, courses and retraining programmes run by Tech Talent Charter signatories and the wider tech industry.
“Women’s careers have been disproportionately affected by the Coronavirus outbreak, explained Co-founder and author of the Tech Talent Charter, Sinead Bunting.
“Despite this, we know that many companies are actively recruiting women and people from minority backgrounds into tech roles within their organisations. At the Tech Talent Charter, we aim to connect the dots and highlight some of the opportunities open to women of all ages and from all backgrounds.
“The message of this campaign is women already have the everyday skills that lend themselves to a successful career in tech and that we NEED women of all kinds to bring their skills to the UK tech sector for it to thrive.
“We hope by seeing the campaign, it will inspire women to have the confidence to take the next step and explore how they can get started with a tech career.”
The UK tech sector suffers from significant gender inequality, with only around 17% of tech roles being held by women.
Gender balance
Research by HP and the Fawcett Society has shown that 45% of women in other roles would be interested in retraining into a tech role, but 32% did not believe they had the right qualifications. The Tech Talent Charter is a series of commitments by signatories to address the gender balance of their tech teams, and this campaign highlights the opportunities that exist for women who are interested in joining the tech sector.
Tech Talent Charter created Doing it Anyway in partnership with the Rankin creative agency, Global Outdoor, PwC, HP and the Institute of Coding.
The campaign features images of women from a variety of backgrounds who have found careers in technology through inspiring non-traditional paths.
They were selected from more than 300 candidates nominated by Tech Talent Charter signatories and invited to take part in an exclusive photoshoot with Tatjana Galic at the Rankin creative agency.
Doing it Anyway
The women featured in the campaign are:
● Honesty Haynes-Williams, a digital marketer from London.
● Sifaya Vellaithamby, a Lead Technical Architect based in Croydon.
● Magdalene Amegashitsi, a data scientist from London.
● Molly Watt, an accessibility and UX/usability consultant based in Berkshire.
● Jennifer Johnson a developer working in London.
● Kam Rai, a product manager based in London.
● Patience Ndlovu, a software tester from Leeds.
● Clare Streets, a project director based in Birmingham.
The campaign is being run across social media and outdoor advertising space provided by Global Outdoor and will run for one month from 21st October.
